Monday 3 March 2008

'Skipping STD VII is illegal'

Some private secondary schools in Dar es Salaam are illegally enrolling students who had skipped national standard seven examinations.

The government has said it will take legal action against owners of schools which are involved in the practice.

A survey conducted by The Guardian has revealed that many primary school pupils skip standard six and seven studies and proceed to secondary school level.

The survey has established that the problem has been fuelled by the mushrooming private secondary schools, some of which are business oriented at the cost of academic satisfaction.

The newly established schools lack enough students. They thus enroll even those who have not completed standard seven.

People have begun questioning the validity of standard seven examinations, if the pupils can easily be enrolled in secondary school without having any identifiable qualifications.

A source who preferred anonymity told The Guardian that the problem was most experienced in private primary schools, especially those which put more weight on money rather than the quality of education.

``There are so many schools nowadays, some of them lack students. They thus enroll pupils who have no qualifications,`` said the source.

He said parents were now free to decide where they wanted to take their children to undertake secondary education, without questioning the qualification criteria.

Schools which register such pupils go against education regulations, which require a student enrolled in secondary school to produce a letter from the head teacher of the previous school, examination number and a progress report.

The Deputy Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Mwantumu Mahiza, when contacted, said the process went against legal procedures and warned that those involved should stop.

``Standard Seven examinations are compulsory to all pupils who want to join secondary education. The procedure for doing Standard Seven examinations is legally recognized. No one is allowed to do otherwise,`` she said.

She said the system of skipping classes was applicable to some levels but national examinations were vital.

Mahiza said a primary school pupil could jump classes when found intelligent enough to manage subjects in higher classes.

``In primary school, a pupil can skip to standard two and three, but must study standard four and sit for the national examinations and pass to standard five,`` Mahiza said.

She said with teachers` recommendations, a pupil could skip Standard Six and proceed to Standard Seven in order to sit for national examinations.

``This can also be done at secondary level but under certain conditions, which would require approval of the Chief Education Officer so that the government could also be aware of such students,`` she said.

She said skipping classes under the said procedures was allowed but students were supposed to sit for all national examinations in line with the curriculum.

* SOURCE: Guardian, 03 Mar 2008
By Lydia Shekighenda

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